Somewhere Only We Know
by AnnMiuka
Summary: Songfic: Naruto goes on a hike back to the place that he shared with the person he loved the most-remembering the good times and regretting the bad. Rated M for sexual suggestions. No specific pairing, although most know who I want it to be.


"Somewhere Only We Know"  
By **AnnMiuka**

**A/N**: Sorry this took so long to post. Also, while everyone knows me and my tastes, the romantic pairing may be interpreted a few different ways, so I'm not going to be specific at all. There is only Naruto for the most part, and his journey through the hills. The location is based on my own hike through the wilderness with my Dad a few years ago. Luckily, my hike with my Dad was not this personally emotional.

**Note**: This is a songfic. While the rules and guidelines forbid direct copying of lyrics outside the public domain, I consider the internet public domain. (If you are a moderator for FFN, please message me with a clearer definition. I don't want to endure consequences do to misinterpretation.)  
Additionally, if you do not want to read this as a songfic, please ignore the bold word set in the center.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto, and I do not own Keane or any music by Keane.

Rated T for sexual references.

* * *

Naruto stepped through the shadows of the forest feeling the weight of his backpack on his hips and shoulders. In a few yards, he'd break through the tree line and into the open sun. Slowly, he made his way up the steadily increasing incline. His boot dug into his ankles when he slipped on a stone hidden by sand. Puffing a little, he pushed forward. Another yard—yes!

**I walked across an empty land**

**I knew the pathway like the back of my hand**

The forest broke onto rolling hills of golden grass that glistened in the brilliant sunlight. A light breeze teased Naruto's short hair, setting the golden locks into disarray. He didn't care. At that moment, the sight of the sprawling valley was everything that he needed. Clouds made their lazy way across the cerulean sky. He felt the sun on his cheeks, could see for miles it seemed like before he saw green again. That was where he set his next goal. Beyond the trees, he knew, there was a thin river, and if he followed that river, he'd find the lake.

**I felt the earth beneath my feet**

**Sat by the river and it made me complete**

Standing at the edge of the forest, he shut his eyes and imagined the cool water lapping against the shore. Fifteen years ago, he'd sat on a log, damp from splashed water, and dug his toes into the soft loam. He'd made a pact that year to come back every summer. Ten years ago, he'd lost his virginity on the sand in a rushed exclamation of love. Sweat soaked memories of shivering in the cold mountain air as heat met heat and lips met lips with only the moon as their guide made his body want to react like a teenager's.

**Oh simple thing where have you gone?**

Five years ago, he'd stopped coming to the lake.

**I'm getting old and I need something to rely on**

Naruto set off across the grassy stretch. If he paced himself, he could reach the trees before the heat of the day got to him. He started to follow a well-trod trail then hesitated under a lonely brown tree. He could make it to the other side in half the time if he walked cross-country. The thrill of making his own way pushed him from the shade.

**So tell me when you're gonna let me in**

The breeze urged the grass to tickle his legs, bare from his shorts down. He batted it away in annoyance, but the tickling made him smile uncontrollably. Annoyed, he swatted it away. A careless step put the heel of his boot right in a rabbit hole, and he fell sideways. He tried to catch himself and only succeeded in scraping his palms. For a moment, he simply laid in the grass, his backpack heavy against his heaving back. He fought to catch his breath and took stock of his possible injuries. His hands hurt the worst, so he rolled off them.

**I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin**

The sun had made the dirt hot, and his backpack was uncomfortable to lie in, so he huffed and rolled, tucked and pushed, until he managed to get to his feet again. Naruto shot the hole a dirty look and brushed dirt and grass off his knees and butt. His palms still throbbed, but he blew out a short breath and started forward again. He didn't feel like smiling anymore. Determined to not repeat the experience, he gave more focus to where he was placing his feet than to the beauty that he'd been admiring only minutes ago.

A trickle of sweat slid down his forehead, and he found himself puffing. The day was getting hotter than he'd expected. He dragged a tie-dye bandana out of a pocket in his backpack and swiped it across his forehead. The bright colors brought a curve back to his lips. They'd made the bandanas together on a whim seven summers ago. It had been the first summer they'd shared at the lakeside cabin. That had been the first rental in both their names. The sun had been warm and the breeze comfortable. They'd sat on the edge of the dock with their feet in the water and had splashed each other with dye water, ruining each others' works until they'd just fallen into the lake. He'd laughed so hard that he'd choked on water. Naruto shoved the bandana into his backpack's strap and pushed onward.

**I came across a fallen tree**

The teasing breeze had abandoned him to play through the tops of the trees beyond. His eyes watched their tops, seeing them waving like old friends. His lashes drooped as his chest ached suddenly. He dropped his gaze from the trees and he made his way forward more slowly. Even in the heat, he felt a little cold.

**I felt the branches of it looking at me**

When the grass turned to bare earth, he didn't notice at first. A yard into the empty patch, he stopped and looked around. The earth had been scorched in a wide stripe going on to both his left and his right for a distance beyond his vision. It was black and empty, as though all the grass had been burned away. There wasn't anything but ash left abandoned even by the wind. For a moment, Naruto couldn't understand the reason for the emptiness.

**Is this the place we used to love?**

**Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?**

Feeling exposed, he hurried out of the firebreak and back into the tall grass. A hawk cried its greeting to the sun and slipped beneath the tree line ahead of him. Naruto's eyelids fluttered shut as he recalled the way its wings had tipped and tilted to ride the air currents up and down. It had been alone, he thought. His chest ached before he could dismiss the thought. His throat suddenly felt tight and dry. He pulled his water bottle out of a pocket in his backpack and took a deep sip to clear the tightness.

**Oh simple thing where have you gone?**

There was a bit of movement in the grass that drew his eyes to a rabbit racing to its burrow to get out of the sun. Its slim ears were tucked so that it could dive into the cool earth head first without needing to even slow down.

**I'm getting old and I need something to rely on**

Naruto shoved his water bottle back into its pocket and pushed onward. His calves were beginning to ache. It had been too long since he'd made that hike. He was slowing down and he knew it. Part of him thought that he wasn't pushing harder because he knew what he was going to find at the end of the journey. He ignored himself and focused on making it to the trees.

**So tell me when you're gonna let me in**

**I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin**

It took him another twenty minutes of quiet walking to reach the roots of the first tree. The leaves were small and loosely patched across the branches. Sun easily filtered through to reach him, but he stopped for a moment to drink and wipe the sweat from his face.

**And if you have a minute why don't we go**

He felt the wind caress his cheek, cooling his skin and weaving its fingers through his sweat-heavy hair. Involuntarily, he sighed, closing his eyes and turning his face into that caress.

**Talk about it somewhere only we know?**

The breeze ruffled his clothes and danced away like a teasing lover. He found himself thinking of his own lover tracing the wind's path. He opened his eyes and they flashed with the same playfulness, only to find that he was alone.

**This could be the end of everything**

Feeling suddenly empty and weak, he tucked the water bottle away and continued into the trees. The shade was cool and the dirt less packed. He knew that he needed to find the trail again and used that as an excuse to forget. The trees had grown yards since he'd last lost himself beneath their branches. New growth was foreign to him, and he began to think he wouldn't find the trail again. A boulder peered around a large tree and greeted him with a familiar craggy smile. The corners of his mouth lifted in response and he patted it as he passed. He knew he was on the right path.

**So why don't we go**

**Somewhere only we know?**

The sun trickled through the thicker branches, dripping a glow onto the wildflowers growing sporadically throughout the forest. Naruto plucked one for no particular reason and twirled it in his fingers. Its purple petals spread out from a small yellow disk and curved down like a daisy. He almost felt like plucking the petals like a school girl, just because he could, but let it drop from his fingers instead.

**Oh simple thing where have you gone?**

**I'm getting old and I need something to rely on**

The path grew in his vision until he could put his boots on it. For a moment, he looked around for something familiar to tell him which direction to go. He sipped his water before deciding what path to follow and walking down it.

**So tell me when you're gonna let me in**

**I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin**

Naruto's feet felt hot, and he was tempted to peel the heavy boots off and cool them with his water bottle. Before he gave in, he reminded himself of all the blisters he'd gotten breaking the boots in. They'd been bright and new, and his lover had teased him about the bright orange styling on the sides. Naruto had promptly added bright orange laces to prove a point that he couldn't even recall. His throat felt tight and he decided to keep his water for it and not for his feet. It took little convincing. The lake couldn't be that much farther away.

**And if you have a minute why don't we go**

**Talk about it somewhere only we know?**

The sounds of birds in the branches above him made him smile. He let his gaze lift to the trees and promptly tripped over his own feet. The backpack almost over-balanced him, but he'd gotten used to it, and this time he managed to keep his feet. A congratulatory grin spread across his face and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for the success. Here, in the forest he loved so much, he could at least keep his feet. Without meaning to, he thought of all the places that he hadn't managed to keep his feet: their college, the apartment that they'd shared, the library where he'd embarrassed himself in front of a dozen witnesses, and finally, his front porch when he'd turned purple yelling as he hauled his stuff into the back of his beat up pick up.

**This could be the end of everything**

The birdsong was lost to the cruel words he'd flung and had had flung back at him. He felt his throat closing and his stomach roiling. For a moment, he felt sick. He hated himself for walking out like that. More than ten years as lovers and a decade of being friends before that and he'd walked away.

**So why don't we go**

**So why don't we go**

What was worse was that he'd been the one to say goodbye and now he was the one regretting it. The words had been flung after him in an uncharacteristic shout and now he knew that they had been true.

"_If you leave me now, you're going to regret it."_

Naruto walked right through the edge of the forest and into the sun before he noticed. He'd driven fifty miles and had hiked for almost three hours to see what was ahead of him, and now that he was there, he couldn't see it beyond his own stupidity and regret. For a full minute, he walked in the heat without feeling it send wet lines down his brow.

**This could be the end of everything**

Instead, he saw the lapping waters of the past splashing him in the face like a slap. Sweat made his eyes sting, and he batted at them. The pain made him focus on his current needs, and he stopped to clear his eyes and look around. The river-head was only yards away.

**So why don't we go**

He started walking, and his pace began to pick up in earnest. There was a bridge ahead and he almost tripped over a half-dozen rocks jutting out of the ground in his rushed attempt to get there. He slowed down as his body felt the exertion. The straps of his backpack dug into his shoulders, but he ignored it and stopped in the middle of the bridge to look out at the water.

**Somewhere only we know?**

Naruto followed the familiar shoreline to the point jutting out of one side. Beyond that would be the beach, and a half-hour hike more would be the rental cabins. The water rushed beneath the bridge, bouncing playfully off the rocks. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to remember what the water felt like. There'd be fish darting away from him, little minnows that would hide in the water grass at the edge of the lake. Water-walkers would skate across the surface and dragonflies would chase after them and tease the fish.

**Somewhere only we know**

He didn't realize that he was walking again until he turned off the bridge and started toward the point. There was the log where he'd thrown his shirt when he'd been young and reckless enough to jump into the water without thinking about the cold. There was the pile of boulders that had hidden him from the animals when he'd felt the first thrills of passion. Here was the point that hid his youth from his adulthood.

**This could be the end of everything,**

There was the road that serviced the campgrounds where he'd slept beneath the stars for the first time. A tree had his family name on it where they always threw out their sleeping bags on the cool ground and called the forest their home. Somewhere out there, he'd carved N + S into a particularly sappy conifer. He reached the first cabin in the row and knew it was only a matter of minutes before he'd see the dock that stretched out like a pier into the water. Stains from the dyes had probably been sun-bleached out of the wood by now.

**So why don't we go,**

Naruto began to slow as he saw the familiar log-style cabin edged back from the water. The last tenant had put a green trim on the eaves, but the brown paint was still peeling. He followed the peak of the roof to the uniquely cobble-stoned chimney. He'd never used it, and a twinge of regret made his steps falter. He took one more and had to block his eyes as the glare of the cabin's windows blinded him abruptly. It took him a minute to stumble out of the glare and find his way to the porch. The door was locked, which he should have expected. With a sigh, he shrugged out of his backpack. After a brief search of his pockets didn't turn up the keys, he rattled the doorknob again, just to make sure it wasn't stuck, before he started to dig into this pack for the key.

**Somewhere only we know,**

He felt like his arm was all the way at the bottom before he managed to find his key ring. The keys even got caught on the other things he'd packed, and he swore profusely as he tried to get them free. With a triumphant "Aha!" he pulled them free and lifted his head to the doorknob. Instead, he saw a dark shirt and followed it up to a shockingly familiar face. Dark-lashed eyes mirrored his shock. For a brief, painful moment, Naruto thought that they would go right back to the where they'd left off. Instead, his lover's lips curved up in a familiar smirk, and he knew that, for now, at least, they could leave their troubles in the city.

**Somewhere only we know,**

Naruto pushed to his feet and hefted his backpack onto one shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something—to explain his appearance, to question, anything. His lover took a step back, allowing him in. He let out a breath and stepped inside. He set his backpack down on the scarred floor and stepped back into the familiar, the place he loved and the person he loved.

**Somewhere only we know.**


End file.
